20 Weeks - Halfway There! What's happening?

Week Twenty: The halfway point

Congratulations! You are halfway through your pregnancy, 20 weeks marks the midpoint. Remember, pregnancy is counted as 40 weeks from the beginning of your last period if you go full term. You are 20 weeks pregnant. (fetal age 18 weeks) Baby now weighes about 11 ounces and is roughly 7 inches long. Baby is 17cm long crown to rump, and weighs about 310 grams. The baby can hear and recognize the mother's voice. The mother will probably start feeling the first fetal movements. The toenails and fingernails are growing. The growth of hair on the rest of the body has started. The skin is getting thicker. The heart can now be heard with a stethoscope. Your baby may react to loud sounds. Baby can actually hear noises outside of the womb. Familiar voices, music, and sounds that baby becomes accustomed to during their development stages often are calming after birth. This is an important time for sensory development since nerve cells serving each of the senses; taste, smell, hearing, sight, and touch are now developing into their specialized area of the brain. Your baby now weighes about 11 ounces and at roughly 7 inches long they are filling up more and more of the womb. Though still small and fragile, the baby is growing rapidly and could possibly survive if born at this stage. Note: Babies are measured from the crown (or top) of the head to the rump (or bottom) until about 20 weeks. After that, they are measured from head to heel. This is because a baby's legs are curled up against the torso during the first half of pregnancy and very hard to measure. Weight: 10.6 ounces - 300 grams Length:  (crown to rump) 6.5 inches - 16.5 cm (crown to heel) 10 inches - 25.5 cm.